They welcome Scarlets to Thomond Park this week in the Pro 12.

Munster’s home form has been way off since the start of the season with dreadful losses to Edinburgh and Ospreys.

Speaking at the launch of the European Champions Cup in Dublin today, the captain says they have been very disappointing so far.

He said: “The local derby is obviously hugely important to everyone involved and Leinster have been getting the better of us over the last few years so it’s good to come away with a win.”

“We have had a couple of home losses which we are not happy about at all so the most important thing for us was to get four points at the weekend which we did so we are happy enough with that.”

Over the years it has been said that the season only really gets underway after a Leinster v Munster or vice versa fixture.

However taking those early losses and poor performances into consideration, the Munster captain says that statement is now a thing of the past.

He insists that new qualification rules for the Champions Cup through the Pro 12, whereby the seven highest-ranked teams based on their finishing positions in the league will qualify, will put Munster under huge pressure.

“As a result of this competition (Champions Cup) being that you have to finish in the top, it’s more important to put more of an emphasis on performing for the whole year rather than coming in and out.” O’Mahony said.

“I think the day and age of the Leinster-Munster game kicking off the start of the season is probably gone.”

“We were unhappy with the Edinburgh loss, it’s just not like us to be losing like that at home.”

“We had a big win at the weekend and we will be looking to kick on against Scarlets at home.”

“We need to back up our performance now which we haven’t done over the last few seasons so we have to back up the performance with a better one,” he added